Author: Lisa Fratt

Running the Boston Marathon takes months of training, and it can take a toll on elite marathoners and novice athletes alike. Vector checked in with some of the experts in the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Sports Medicine Division to learn more about how science can aid marathon runners, prevent injury and illness and facilitate recovery. Hover over the icons below for some basics.

Chocolate milk: A no-brainer for maximizing recovery

The most rapid way to maximize recovery after an endurance run is to consume carbohydrates in a 4:1 ratio within 30 to 60 minutes of completing the marathon. The enzyme glycogen synthase is most active within this time frame; it synthesizes glycogen — the body’s main source of energy during activity — from glucose in the body. Chocolate milk has become a favorite of runners and athletes since it provides the perfect 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein. —Laura Moretti, MS, RD, clinical nutrition specialist …

An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear can be a devastating sports injury. Every year, 400,000 people, many of them teen and young adult athletes, sustain ACL injuries or tears. Martha Murray, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital, worked with a team of colleagues to create a new procedure known as bridge-enhanced ACL repair (BEAR) that encourages natural healing. Watch this animation to see how it works:

Why do surgeons need a better way to repair ACL injuries?

The current standard of care, surgical ACL reconstruction, is a good solution. But it is linked with a 20 percent risk of re-tearing the ACL, and many young patients face an increased risk of arthritis. Instead of removing the torn ACL and replacing it with a tendon graft, the BEAR technique uses a special protein-enriched sponge to encourage the torn ends to reconnect and heal. The researchers have completed a 20-patient safety trial and are enrolling additional patients in a 200-patient clinical study.

During the last decade or so, health care has been rapidly transforming from a reactive, paper-based system to a responsive digital model.

Massachusetts, under Gov. Charlie Baker’s leadership, has launched a comprehensive public-private partnership to accelerate the state’s digital health care sector. The partnership has identified multiple ways to drive investment and growth in the state.

Technology transfer from universities to private companies is just one example. In the past, each transfer required completely new agreements. Three new standardized templates for licensing, technology transfer and sponsored research will help facilitate these processes. In 2016, the partnership will expand its Mentorship Speakers Series with a stronger focus on digital health care. Finally, the Digital Healthcare Innovation Hub and Accelerator will provide a space to support and grow new digital health companies in Boston.

Vector visited with John Brownstein, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital’s Chief Innovation Officer, to better understand the background and potential impact of this new initiative. …

“These start-ups are really looking to change the world. [They won’t be] the next Uber or Facebook. [Instead] they will really affect lives in the pediatric space,” said Troy Carter, founder and CEO of the entertainment company Atom Factory and newly named guest shark on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” as he introduced the Innovation Tank at the Boston Children’s Hospital Global Pediatric Innovation Summit + Awards.

Though each of the three participating innovations promised a tremendous impact on kids, the six judges agreed on the ultimate Innovation Tank winner and awarded a $30,000 investment to the Augmented Infant Resuscitator (AIR). …

The walls of Anne Hansen’s office tell a story. The main character, medical director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Boston Children’s Hospital, is an innovator, a global citizen and respected neonatologist. Her life and work has benefitted newborns and parents, medical trainees and colleagues around the world.

Read more about her life, work and innovations by hovering over the objects that surround her every day.

The twists and turns of Stephen Friend’s career are both dizzying and thrilling. In the early days, Stephen Friend, MD, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Sage Bionetworks, spent many a late night as a resident in the emergency room at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with Gary Fleischer, MD, current pediatrician-in-chief at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Friend later wound up at Boston Children’s as well, where he did his pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship and later, as part of the faculty, helped co-lead the team that identified the first tumor suppressor at Boston Children’s. A few years later, Friend left academia to pursue his passion in a startup and later engineered a landing at Sage Bionetworks, a nonprofit focused on patient engagement and open science in the research process. The Resilience Project, one of Sage’s research initiatives, analyzes DNA from healthy volunteers to discover rare mutations that protect resilient people from serious childhood illnesses.

Though Bruce Zetter, PhD, Charles Nowiszewski Professor of Cancer Biology in Boston Children’s Hospital’s Department of Surgery, has had a lifelong passion for science, he once toyed with an alternate career—as an actor. But he stuck with his love for science and pursued a career in academic medicine. Countless patients, students, business partners and mentees have benefitted from that decision.

Now, he’s adding crime fighter to the list. “The biggest crime in the health enterprise is when the next cure for Parkinson’s disease, cancer or multiple sclerosis is left on the bench because the researcher completed the discovery phase and decided that was enough,” he says. “So the breakthrough never becomes a drug or test.” …

Gena Koufos, RN, MS, MBA, is program manager in Boston Children’s Hospital’s Innovation Acceleration Program. Her role entails designing new programs to support innovation acceleration across the institution. She offers resources and strategic guidance to cultivate and advance early stage innovators through product development and care delivery projects.

Learn more about the connection between nursing and innovation by exploring Koufos’ work and life. Click on the images and icons in the photo below to see what makes Koufos tick.